Classification of geographical origin of kimchi by volatile compounds analysis using an electronic nose

Food authenticity is one of the largest concerns in recent days. As kimchi has been a global food, its production origin has been important issue, particularly due to the large import from China. Among the potential methods, electronic nose which can measure volatile compounds in foods is considered to be a powerful device for identifying country of production. This study is to classify 69 kinds of kimchi produced in South Korea (39) and China (30) by analyzing volatile compounds in kimchi using electronic nose-mass spectrometry. Two widely used multivariate analyses, discriminant function analysis and principal component analysis, were used. Results showed that both multivariate analyses can completely separate Korean and Chinese kimchi using 10 kinds of molecular weights among 10–160 amu. The results indicate that the volatile compounds in kimchi are a suitable target to determine the geographical origin of kimchi.